Football first arrived in South Africa through colonialism in the late nineteenth century, as the game was popular among British soldiers.[1] From the earliest days of the sport in South Africa until the end of apartheid, organised football was affected by the country's system of racial segregation. The all-white Football Association of South Africa (FASA), was formed in 1892, while the South African Indian Football Association (SAIFA), the South African Bantu Football Association (SABFA) and the South African Coloured Football Association (SACFA) were founded in 1903, 1933 and 1936 respectively.

The South African team that toured on South America. They played 12 matches with only one defeat

In 1903 the SAFA re-affiliated with EnglishThe Football Association after the Second Boer War between the British Empire and the Boer state. There was a plan to play a tournament held in Argentina, with South Africa and Fulham as guest teams, but it was not carried out. Nevertheless, South Africa traveled to South America in 1906 to play a series of friendly matches there.[2]

The players were exclusively white, civil servants, government employees, bankers and civil engineers. Seven of the 15 players were born in South Africa and 8 originated from England and Scotland.[2]

South Africa was one of four African nations to attend FIFA's 1953 congress, at which the four demanded, and won, representation on the FIFA executive committee.[5] Thus the four nations (South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan) founded the Confederation of African Football in 1956,[5] and the South African representative, Fred Fell, sat at the first meeting as a founding member. It soon became clear however that South Africa's constitution prohibited racially mixed teams from competitive sport and so they could only send either an all-black side or an all-white side to the planned 1957 African Cup of Nations. This was unacceptable to the other members of the Confederation and South Africa were disqualified from the competition, however some sources say that they withdrew voluntarily.

At the second CAF conference in 1958 South Africa were formally expelled from CAF. The all-white (FASA) were admitted to FIFA in the same year, but in August 1960 it was given an ultimatum of one year to fall in line with the non-discriminatory regulations of FIFA. On 26 September 1961 at the annual FIFA conference, the South African association was formally suspended from FIFA. Sir Stanley Rous, president of The Football Association of England and a champion of South Africa's FIFA membership, was elected FIFA President a few days later. Rous was adamant that sport, and FIFA in particular, should not embroil itself in political matters and against fierce opposition he continued to resist attempts to expel South Africa from FIFA. The suspension was lifted in January 1963 after a visit to South Africa by Rous in order to investigate the state of football in the country.

Rous declared that if the suspension were not lifted, football there would be discontinued, possibly to the point of no recovery. The next annual conference of FIFA in October 1964 took place in Tokyo and was attended by a larger contingent of representatives from African and Asian associations and here the suspension of South Africa's membership was re-imposed. In 1976, after the Soweto uprising, they were formally expelled from FIFA. South Africa was suspended by FIFA from 1961 to 1992 because of the country's apartheid policies, banning the country from international competition (including the FIFA World Cup), and severely stunting the growth of the domestic game.

In 1991, when the apartheid system was beginning to be demolished, a new multi-racial South African Football Association was formed, and admitted to FIFA. On 7 July 1992, the South African national team played their first game in two decades, beating Cameroon 1–0. Since the integration of the country, it has developed the most sophisticated Professional Football Structure in Africa, the Premier Soccer League. South Africa qualified for the 1998 and 2002World Cups, but failed to progress past the group stage both times. They hosted (and won) the 1996 African Cup of Nations and hosted the 2010 World Cup, the first African nation to do so.

The first non-racial, singular football association in South Africa was formed in 1991, and named the South African Football Association (SAFA). Previously, there had been a number of different, racially divided football bodies. These bodies, the Football Association of South Africa, the South African Soccer Association, the South African Soccer Federation and the South African National Football Association came together to form SAFA on 8 December 1991. SAFA was given observer status at the Confederation of African Football in January 1992. The association was accepted into FIFA in June 1992, allowing its teams to play international matches.

SAFA currently control all national football teams, and most football leagues in South Africa. The notable exceptions are the Premier Soccer League and the National First Division, the top two leagues in the country. The leagues are controlled by the National Soccer League, which also controls most major cup competitions.

South Africa has a number of different football leagues, controlled by different organisations. The top two leagues are professional or semi-professional, and run by the PSL. The lower leagues are mostly amateur, and run by SAFA.

The Premier Soccer League was founded in 1996, as a merger between the National Premier Soccer League and the National Soccer League. The Premier Division is the current top league in South Africa, with the winner being crowned as the national champion. The league is made up of 16 teams, all of which are professional. At the end of each season one team is automatically relegated to the National First Division, a second team may also be relegated through a play-off. The relegated teams are replaced by one or two teams from the National First Division.

The National First Division is the current second tier in South African football. The league is made up of 16 teams, which are either professional or semi-professional. The league is governed and controlled by the same body which runs the Premier Soccer League. The league winner is automatically promoted to the Premier Soccer League at the end of the season. Another highly placed team may also be promoted through a play-off. At the end of the season two bottom clubs are relegated, and replaced by two play-off winners from the Vodacom League.

The SAFA Second Division is the third tier of South African football, and the highest tier directly controlled by the South African Football Association. The league is played on a provincial basis, and made up mostly of semi-professional sides. 144 clubs are divided into nine, 16 team leagues. At the end of the season the nine league winners enter into a series of play-offs to earn the two promotion places in the National First Division. The bottom two teams in each league are relegated to the SAB Regional League.

The SAB Regional League is the fourth tier of South African football, and the second highest tier controlled by the South African Football Association. The league is made up of 832 clubs, divided into 52 leagues. Each of the 52 leagues is associated with one of the nine provincial leagues in the Vodacom League, and are usually amateur teams. The regional league winners enter into a series of play-offs in their province, to gain two places in each provincial league in the Vodacom League.

Leagues below the SAB Regional League are controlled by SAFA's Local Football Associations. The number of teams and leagues at this level can vary greatly depending on the area and the population. Teams in these leagues are almost always amateur.

Most universities in South Africa include football programs for both men and women. Most clubs play in the amateur leagues, competing against non-university sides. The exception is in the Gauteng province, where clubs play in the Gauteng Football League.

The two largest university football tournaments are the USSA Football tournament and Varsity Sports Football Challenge. The USSA tournament is open to all universities, and allows separate teams for different campuses. The Varsity Sports tournament is only open to universities aligned to the University Sports Company, and only allows one club per university.

There are also several leagues for high school and junior school football teams, however many private and former model c schools have chosen not to include football programs. The largest schools football tournament is the Kay Motsepe